Backpacks are notoriously well known articles used in a variety of daily activities. For example, backpacks are typically used in outdoors activities (e.g., camping, hiking, rock climbing, fishing and the like) as a means of carrying articles the participant needs for the particular activity in which he or she is involved.
It is desirable and sometimes necessary for the participant to rest periodically during outdoors activities, especially when the outdoor activities involve strenuous physical exercise. However, oftentimes, the participant in the outdoors activity does not have a convenient and/or comfortable place to rest. Thus, it would be desirable if some means were available that was sufficiently transportable so as to be usable in outdoors activities, while at the same time providing the participant in the outdoors activities with a convenient and comfortable place to rest. Furthermore, it would be highly desirable if such means also enabled the participant to carry articles needed for particular outdoors activity.
Several proposals to accomplish the purposes set forth above have been proposed in the art. For example, in my earlier issued U.S. Patents identified above, there is disclosed a combination backpack and stool which has a frame which includes a seat-defining member upon which a user may sit, a ground-engageable member for supporting the frame upon a surface, and an upright pedestal member rigidly coupled to and between the seat-defining member and the ground-engageable member so as to establish a space therebetween. A flexible material encloses the defined space to provide a storage compartment for articles and a pair of shoulder straps are attached to the frame which allow a user to carry the frame in the form of a backpack. When periodically resting, however, the frame may be set upon the ground so that the user can sit and rest upon the seat-defining member.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,902,640 discloses a two section, semi-rigid backpack having a lower section comprising a structurally reinforced, molded open basket to which shoulder and waist straps are adjustably attached and having a contoured side adjacent the hiker's back. The upper section of the semi-rigid backpack is a structurally reinforced molded member which may be removed in order to serve as a camp stool (see, column 2, line 35).
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,662,932, 2,843,185 and 2,922,465 each generally disclose backpacks having frame structures which include moveable frame members which enable the backpack to be converted into a stool.
While the prior art proposals may be satisfactory for their intended functions, some improvements are still needed in this art. For example, it would especially be helpful in terms of structural integrity if the backpack frame contained no movable parts in order to be placed into service as a stool. Furthermore, the prior proposals in this art do not suggest providing a cushioning effect to the user when seated. It is therefore towards fulfilling such needs that the present invention is directed.
Broadly, this invention relates to a combination backpack and stool in which no movable parts are needed in order for the backpack to also function as a stool. More particularly, the combination backpack and stool of this invention has a frame which includes an upper seat portion and a fabric covering member and between which a cushion member (e.g., a one-piece foam structure) is interposed. As such, the seat portion of the frame will provide significantly improved comfort levels to a user when seated thereupon. Most preferably, the upper seat portion of the frame is downwardly curved and the cushion member is provided with a conformingly shaped convexly curved lower surface.
Most preferably, the rear frame panel will be inwardly curved about a longitudinal axis so as to more closely fit the user's back profile against which it will be placed when in service as a backpack. In this regard, the cushion member will most preferably be provided with a portion which will extend beyond the inwardly curved rear frame panel so as to provide a pillow against which the user's head may bear when the backpack/stool is carried on the user's back. Furthermore, the cushion member will preferably have a substantially horizontal upper surface so as to provide a maximum of cushion thickness near the center of the seat and to impart an overall generally parallelpiped shape to the combination backpack and stool of this invention.
The fabric covering member is tautly supported by the underlying frame but is most preferably is removable therefrom so as to provide ease of cleaning or replacement. In this connection, the fabric cover member is most preferably attached to the frame using a two-part fastening system (e.g., snaps, Velcro.RTM. loop and pile fasteners or the like) disposed generally at each corner of the frame. Thus, one part of such a two-part fastening system will be associated with a respective corner of the frame, whereas the other mating part of the two-part fastening system will be attached to an interior region of the fabric covering member such that, when the fabric covering member is tautly supported on the frame, the respective two-part fasteners will mate with one another.
The cushion member is most preferably fixed to the frame but may be removable therefrom so as to likewise provide ease of cleaning or replacement. In this regard, the cushion member may be provided with an attachment system which, in the preferred embodiment, is comprise of a number of tabs sized to encircle a corresponding portion of the frame. The tab ends are provided with a two-part fastener (e.g., snaps, Velcro.RTM. loop and pile fabric fasteners, and the like) so that they are may be mated to one another and thereby attach the cushion member to the frame portion which is encircled by the tabs.
Further aspects and advantages of this invention will become more clear after careful consideration is given to the following detailed description of the preferred exemplary embodiment thereof.